As I’ve grown older I have become more acutely aware that compromises are ubiquitous in game design. I once raised common questions like, “Why don’t they make this game longer,” “Why isn’t this game more open ended,” and “Why isn’t there more dialog in this game?”
A longer game time may dilute the story and make gameplay tedious. An open ended game is less focused and loses narrative potency, and more dialog can slow down fast paced gameplay. I now realize that for every obvious improvement, there is at least a small case to be made for keeping a design choice unchanged.
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If you look closely, you’ll notice some soldiers measuring their height relative to their enemies and others looking through their item packs for healing herbs. |
When I was younger I longed for complexity in games. I still enjoy titles on the more complicated side, but I can see the folly in demanding every game be dense and technical. In the strategy genre, for example, having thirty different stats and forty different abilities for each character, keeping track of height, distance, volume, HP, MP, TP, relative positioning, absolute positioning, and absolute relativism can be a fun time. → Finger lickin’ read.